A Time of Pain
by TeamCaptain2016
Summary: A short story! Peter has encountered a new villian that left a nasty mess. He's badly hurt and desperately trying to hide it from Tony Stark. It doesn't go well for Peter.
1. chapter 1

**This is a short story I wrote after finishing a test at school. Thought it was pretty good and decided to publish it. Hope Y'all enjoy!**

Time ticked away slowly for me. I laid in the bathtub in my apartment; water surrounding me. The water was cold, but felt refreshing on my sweaty body and stinging back.

Spider-Man had recently encountered a new "villain". The man was dressed like the character Indian Jones. This guy had everything! The hat, the jacket, the satchel, and unfortunately the whip. But, this whip had small spikes that cling to you after it made contact with your skin. The only way I got them off was pulling them out of me.

Yes, I was able to dodge almost all the lashes, but a few had caught me off guard. I was just thankful that all the lashes that hit me were all on my back and shoulders. That way Aunt May won't be able to see them.

I allowed myself to sink deeper into the water. Fully aware I may go completely under. With every movement, I sank deeper into unconsciousness. I knew I needed to sit back up, but something inside told me not to. I felt like it was useless to fight the urge to go under the water. The last thing I saw was the clock striking 5 A.M. on a Saturday morning.

I jolted awake when I heard a bang on the door. My eyelids were still heavy and I felt like closing them again. I slightly sat up, keeping my eyes glued to the ceiling. "Peter? Are you okay?" A very familiar voice called through the door frame.

When I realized who it was, I reached out with my right hand and grabbed the railing in the shower. After I gathered enough strength, I lifted my naked body from the water. My whole body ached from the sudden movement. I allowed my eyes to close again, trying to release my headache. My head was throbbing, my back was stinging, and my legs were shaking.

I glanced up at the clock. 6:15 A.M. I was only out for an hour! There was a knock on the door just then. I turned my head to and gasped. There was blood everywhere. I looked around the area. My gut twisted in a knot at the sight of the bathroom. What did I do? Did decide to paint the bathroom with my blood?

"Peter? Honey?" May called to me.

"I'm fine! Just a little nauseated." I called back. Misery escaped with the words. "What had happened?" I whispered to myself. Slowly, everything came back to my memory. The man I was fighting. The mess I caused because I could barely lift my legs to walk. Then, the pain came back to me too. My back was stinging like I had just flopped on a nest of wasp.

I let my head drop to my chest. When I saw what I was standing in I almost screamed. I was standing in a tub of... blood? I shot up in the air and stuck to the ceiling. The blood began to swirl around in the tub. It sloshed from side to side, almost escaping its container.

As I stared at the surface below a sharp, brutal pain shot through my back. I dropped to the floor to examine the blood. I hesitated before sticking my hand into it. Quickly realizing that is wasn't completely blood, I calmed down a bit. It wasn't dense enough to be blood. My back must have been bleeding more than I thought.

I took a step back and felt something squish between my toes. When I looked down I saw my blood caked Spider-Man suit. There was blood smeared on the door handle and across the wall, leading to the bathtub. I don't even remember taking my suit off.

"Peter! I'm heading to work now! You have a visitor!" May hollered from the living room.

"Tell Ned I'm busy and-and I can't hang out!" With every word that slipped through my lips, pain inflected my throat. I needed to clean this mess up before May comes home tonight.

"It's not Ned! It's Mr. Stark, Peter! Are you sure you're okay? You don't sound 'okay'! What's the matter? Do I need to stay home, with you?" May was screaming at the top of her lungs. She just yelled all that with Tony Stark in the room!

"I'm fine May! Have a good day at work! Oh, and tell Mr.Stark I'll be out in a moment!" There was no way I could clean this before he started getting suspicious. I'd have to wait until he leaves. I was about to just walk out the door when I remembered I was still standing with no clothes on. "Wait! May!" She didn't answer.

I cracked the door open and stuck my head out. The sight of Mr. Stark standing to the left of the door made me jump. I slammed the door shut and I heard him laughing. I could just imagine him shaking his head. "What's up, kid? Need something?" He knocked on the door a couple of times as well. My breath was released as I realized he didn't see anything. (And yes I mean the blood.)

"Umm... No. I was just gonna ask her a question." I said through the door. "Do you mind not standing right there? It's kinda weird." Footsteps indicated he had walked back to the living room. "What am I gonna do?"

I could ask Tony freaking Stark to get me some clothes or try to run to my room. Both of those things were too risky. I wasn't doing either of them. Instead, I searched through the dirty clothes hamper. I found a pair of sweats that didn't smell too bad and slipped them on. Not having a shirt on wouldn't be a problem if I wasn't chopped up! I was forced to wear one of my Star Wars shirts. It wasn't that bad. I mean all it had on it was the Millenium Falcon and its blueprints.

I opened the door slightly and squeezed out. I quickly shut the door and strolled to the living room, in search of my mentor. I found him sitting on the couch with his legs crossed and his nose stuck in his phone. "H-Hey! Mr. Stark, what a surprise." I managed to choke out. Tony immediately stood up and turned around to face me. I stood behind the couch, trying to stay out of view.

"I thought you fell in, kid. What took you so long?" Tony walked around the couch and came up to me. He was wearing **his** normal attire. A black suit with a white button up undershirt. He had a red tie on and his black dress shoes. **His** normal clothing.

"Like I said, didn't feel so good. I think it was just something I ate. Anyway, why-why are you here?" I moved away from him to the other side of the couch. Tony eyed me closely making my face heat up and turn beet red.

"We caught your Indian Jones guy. He was an escaped inmate at a mental hospital." He squinted his eyes and looked me up and down. I walked to the kitchen while I listened. Trying to flee his sight. "Pete, you alright? You're limping pretty badly." He followed me. Of course, he would!

"Yeah... Is that all you wanted to tell me? You could have just called." I shot out a web and swung open the fridge. Then I shot another web at a water bottle. The sticky formula latched on to it and in one pull the bottle was in my hand. I popped open the medicine cabinet and grabbed the Tylenol.

Tony was standing behind me now. He forcefully placed a hand on my shoulder. "You know what, I just wanted to-" Before I knew it I pushed Mr. Starks hand away and winced in pain. "Pete?" This was like nothing I'd ever felt! My breaths started picking up and my vision started to blur. I leaned over for a split second.

"I'm okay." I stood straighter and opened the medicine bottle.

"I didn't even ask you that," Tony said. My eyes darted to the hallway and the back at him. "Okay, games over. Did that guy hurt you? What are you trying to hide?" I dropped the bottle of pills, but quickly reached down and snatched it mid-air. The sudden movement made me wince even more.

"Look, I'm just a little sore..." I wasn't looking at Mr.Stark. I couldn't look at him and lie like that. I felt like I was dying. I'd never experienced pain like this. I looked up and saw Tony was gone. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him walking down the hall towards the _bathroom!_

"Wait! No! Mr. Stark, you can't go in there!" Me, the Spectacular Spider-Man, yelling at Iron Man not to go in a bathroom. Ned's gonna get a kick out of this. I gathered all the strength I had left and dashed through the hallway. I used my body to block him from the door. I had arrived just in time. Gosh, he walks slow.

"Okay, now I know you're trying to hide something. Kid, you need a lesson on how to lie. Well, I guess that's not something I should be teaching teenagers. Anyway, let's see it." Tony didn't look away from me at all. He made eye contact the whole time, something that would give any teenager anxiety. Sweat started trickling down my forehead and I started shivering like I was cold. My head dropped slightly. Mr. Stark placed a hand on my other shoulder. I dropped it lower so the touch would be lifted off. He got the memo and put his arm down. "Peter," I looked straight up when he said my _full_ name. He hardly ever calls me Peter. "I'm not going to be mad. Just let me see what ever's in there. I'm here to help." I shook my head yes, I guess I was trying to say I understand.

This time Mr.Stark gently placed both hands on my shoulder and pushed me to the side. My dumb ass let him shove me aside! I sighed a leaned back against the wall. Instantly, I jerked away. Tony looked at me one last time before grabbing the doorknob.

Once the door was open Tony stood frozen still. His eyes were wide and his lips slightly parted. He has seen the blood filled room. The blood on the door, the wall, and sink. The blood covered suit. The bloody water in the tub. He's seen it. I'm screwed...

Tony whispered something under his breath. I heard what he said but didn't want to seem rude. "What?" I practically yelled. I didn't mean to be so loud.

He turned on his heel in a panic. His eyes stared into my eyes. I felt like he was going to devour my freaking soul! "Your back... Peter, take off your shirt." My eyes fell from him to the ground. "Shirt! Now."

There's something about adults saying 'now' in a calm voice that makes you move. If he would have yelled it I wouldn't have thrown my shirt off so quickly. As the cloth scraped on my back, I wanted to cry. It made my shoulders and back sting and my weak body made me shake. When is my healing factor gonna kick it!

That's when I realized Tony Stark just told me to take my shirt off. This was weird. Boy, was Ned gonna laugh hard! I smirked at the thought and it gave me something to think about.

After my shirt was off I looked at Tony in an uncomfortable manner. "Uh... You want me to turn around don't you." I huffed and turned before he even answered. "It's really not that bad. I was half out of it when I tried cleaning my back. That's why there is so much blood everywhere." Mr.Stark didn't say anything. I didn't say anything. We stood in silence, the only thing I could hear was his heavy breaths. Or maybe those were my heavy breaths.

"Peter... you need medical attention. I'm going to take you to the compound. Have my medical team take a look at you. Put your shirt back on." I tried to bend over and get it off the floor, but the pain was too much for me to bare anymore. I fell to my hands and knees. "Kid!"

"I'm okay," I said through the tears that slid down my face. "Really..." I stopped. I couldn't see. Maybe it was from the tears that hung in my eyes, I'll never know. "I-I..." I felt a cool hand land on my shoulder.

"Peter, it's okay to be hurt you know." He lifted me up on my feet, but I couldn't stand. "Those needles weren't normal kid. They dig deep in your skin and leave behind a small piece of metal. I have to take you back. How many times were you hit?" He placed his arm under my legs and scooped me up in his arms. Just imagine a Prince carrying his princess away. No, this scene was more like when someone dies and a loved one is carrying them out of a burning building.

"Only four... so four pieces of metal in my back, huh?" I laid my head on his shoulder and I caught him smiling down at me. "Just like you had in your chest?" I could hear his heartbeat speed up as I closed my eyes. I heard the door open and Happy's booming voice. Tony put me on the couch for a moment. The next thing I felt was metal wrapped around my body and cool air slapping against me.

We were flying in the air. I hadn't even noticed until we landed on the roof of the compound. "Maybe... next... T-time we should drive." I managed to spit out.

"Hopefully, there will never be the next time." Tony smiled down at me again, but this time he wanted me to see him. I returned with a slight smile, but soon my smile faded. My body fell limp as I blacked out. The last thing I saw in my mind was a clock that read 5 o'clock.


	2. Chapter 2

**So... I wasn't planning on continuing this but I suddenly got motivated to and had a great idea. Please let me know what you think in the reviews! And I promise you this isn't the last chapter, so please don't freak out... Hope you enjoy!**

Pain.

Screaming.

Pain.

Yelling.

Silence.

My alarm was beeping at a constant rate, annoying the crap out of me. I was laying on my stomach, my eyes closed and my head turned to the left. I reached over to where my phone would be, but felt nothing. There wasn't even a desk. I flung my eyes open to see a white wall and a large window. This was definitely not my room!

The beeping noise began to speed up. A headache instantly crawled from the back of my head to my eyes. I winced in pain as I tried to push myself up with my hands. My ears were ringing and I could hear a muffled scream. I stayed in one place, my back arched a little, my body being completely supported by my forearms and elbows. Sweat poured down my face as I stubbornly refused to move for the better.

The ringing from my ears dissolved, letting me fully hear the screaming. My screaming. I didn't even realize I was screaming. My eyes were glued on the sweat soaked pillow.

I heard a bang and footsteps. Someone laid their cold hand on my burning back. "Peter!" I continued to scream. "Peter! Stop it!" I shut my mouth, tears forming in my eyes. "Peter. Lay down on your stomach." I did as I was told, slamming my face in my pillow. The man chuckled and I my mind instantly placed the voice to the right person.

"Mr. Stark?" I asked in the pillow, making the words muffled and hard to hear.

"What?" I turned my head to the left. My arms were stiffly by my side.

"I said, Mr. Stark?" I moved my eyes over as far as I could. He was still out of sight. "Can you move so my eyeballs don't pop out?" I groaned. He walked to the arm chair right next to me, pulled it closer, and sat down. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. How you feeling underoos?" He leaned forward, resting his elbows on knees.

"Oh I feel just fine. Like a bug stuck on a windshield." I closed my burning eyes, trying not to cry. "What happened?"

"Well, after you passed out I flew through the hallway to get you to the medical wing. We had to operate on you and get that shrapnel out of your back." I sighed and moved my face back into the pillow. My back was stinging and it felt like it was being ripped apart. Every flake of skin was being torn off my body with hot tape. That's what it felt like.

My eyes widened as a thought came across my mind. I raised my head up like a dog. "Please tell me there isn't an Arc reactor in my back!" I began to panic, making my heart rate quicken and it became hard to breath.

"Peter, Peter! Calm down! There is no arc reactor in your back. But dang, that would be highly uncomfortable and look weird. All you got is a lot of stitches and scars." I turned my head back towards him and slightly smiled. "You also lost two days of your life to sleep." My smile faded and turned into a frown. "That's right kid. You've been out cold for two days. That's good for you. Not so much for your aunts stress level though."

"Oh my goodness! Aunt May! What did you tell her? Where is she?" I forced myself to roll over on my side. I winced as a sharp pain shot through my back. I turned quickly, cracking my spine. It felt a lot better after that. At least, I thought so. I couldn't feel any pain.

"What the heck! Kid!" I sat up, my back sill stinging, but I ignored it. "Okay... that worked. She's at work. I told her I would call if you woke up."

"You don't have to call her. She's gonna be pissed! What did you tell her?" Tony sighed and rubbed his neck. Whatever he told her probably made me look stupid. "What did you tell her?" I said in a more demanding tone.

"Well, we had to make it convincing... so we told her you tripped and smashed through the window." I took in a deep breath. That wasn't too bad of an excuse. I am pretty clumsy around the house. One time I slipped on the floor in the kitchen and fell on to the hot stove. Not very fun times. None of this was particularly fun. I was trying to toughen through the pain in my back that returned, trying to not look like a wimp in front of Tony freaking stark, but it was not working. My whole body was hot now. I threw off the covers, not caring that they flung across the room. That wasn't my intentions, but whatever. My head was spinning and my stomach turning with a mushy feeling. My legs were tensing up and shaking like you do when you're cold but also sick to your stomach. I shut my eyes at the thought of puking in front of Tony.

"You deserve this. You brought it on yourself." I said out loud not realizing it until Tony was standing in front of me.

"Hey. You okay? Kid, you don't look so good.' My hand shot up over my mouth as I scrambled off the bed, darting for the very visible bathroom. I failed. I was three steps away from it when my body couldn't take it any more. Everything in my stomach, which wasn't much, came hurling on the hospital floor. At first I was just leaning over, emptying the contents in my gut. The next thing I know, I'm on my hands and knees, which quickly ended with me laying on the floor, falling in my own throw up. My eyes were still open as a laid motionless on the ground. I watched as Tony fell on his knees, not caring that his gray suit pants touched my puke a little. His mouth was moving rapidly, but I heard none of it. I watched as he pushed himself up, stumbling back a little to the door. He swung open the door, allowing it to slam on the wall. I heard a slight bang from the impact. I watched with a blank face as he screamed something into the hallway and three people swarmed around me. They rose me off the ground, laying me back on my stomach. The rest was history. IVs were placed in both arms. An oxygen mask was put on my turned face. All I could do was stare at Tony who was standing by the door. His right arm tucked under his left, his left hand covering his mouth as his head tilted forward with concern.

I was dizzy, spinning endlessly as the doctors tried to steadied my breathing patterns. I became light headed as I blinked at Tony. Suddenly three more people were standing in the door way. May, Ned, and MJ stared at me with wide eyes. Ned scrunched up his nose at the smell of my puke. May yelled something at Tony and he pointed at me, yelling back. I needed to tell May I was okay. MJ just stared at me with a blank face. So I pushed my self up, using my arms again. Pain shot through my back once again. The burning appeared again. It felt like someone shot my back with a million sprinklers, close up... filled with lava instead of water. Yep, that's how it felt. I reached up, tearing the mask off my face and throwing it to the side. I needed to throw up again, but all I could do was lay there, basically doing a plank, and stare at the pillow. Someone tried to put the mask back on me, but I turned my face towards the other side. I looked out the window to see two doves sitting on the window seal. I'm not one for superstitions or religious signs, but for some reason it made me calm down. I collapsed on the mattress, sending a sharp pain through my back. I took in deep breaths, in and out as Tony said earlier. A nurse smiled sympathetically at me as she put two tubes up my nose, sending pure oxygen through my lungs.

"Thanks." I muttered a little loopy. "M-Mr. Stark? I-I don't feel so good..." Tony and May came around the bed.

"I know, kid. You're okay. Alright? You're gonna be okay." I swallowed down the lump in my throat, trying not to throw up or cry, which ever one decided to come first.

"I-I don't know what's happening. I-I don't wanna go!" I screamed as my eyes began to close from a heaviness. "I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go..." I felt hot tears sting my eyes, flowing down my face. I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." I looked down at the ground as my eyes began to close. The beeping began to slow down. The pain in my back ceasing to exist. I breathed out.

 **I know... And I'm sorry. It killed me to write this, but it just happened. Hope you enjoyed! I've already started the next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

Nothing.

I felt nothing as my eyes closed and my breath was released. For a a few seconds that's all there was. Nothing. Darkness surrounded me like one of those bad dreams when you're trapped in a dark hallway. Except, in this hallway was a large movie projector type thing. I blankly stared at it as my life seemed to flash before me. So I guess your life does flash before your eyes when you die.

I heard someone call my name and my chest started to hurt. Slowly, the darkness began to fade away, the movie of my life, rewinding. I made a face like grumpy cat and looked around confused. What the heck **was** happening? I heard my name again and more pain shooting through my chest, but this time it reached my heart. My heart...

I flinched and squeezed my eyes closed. The next time I opened them, everything was still dark. But it was different. I could feel myself and I was breathing. My back was hurting again. My head throbbing with a headache. My chest was stinging and my nose was tingling. My arm felt numb and my lungs hurt with every breath I took. There was a ringing in my ears, so I didn't quite hear the heart monitor sitting next to me. I had to look to my side to see the steady red lines rising up and down. It was mesmerizing, so I turned a little bit on my bed and stared at it. I watched the red line beep up, then down, then up again. For a moment I thought it stopped, but it couldn't have. Because I had this sense the monitor was attached to me. If it stopped, than that meant I died for a split second. Maybe I was already dead and I didn't know it? I heard rapid footsteps, like a lot of them, running down the hallway. I didn't look away from the monitor, even when the door flew open. I sat indian style on the mattress, my chin resting on my hands, my elbows resting on my knees.

"Peter?" A familiar voice said, I little shaken.

"Yeah, Mr. Stark?" I said in a whisper. The light was flipped on and I winced. "Dude! Give me a warning at least. You're as bad as some teachers at school." He ran to me, three people following him. Then I was attacked. With a group hug. I looked around to see May, MJ, and Ned piled on top of me. All of them babbling about someone dying. That's when it hit me... "Holy sh!t!" I suddenly exclaimed. I looked up at Tony, who was standing a few feet away from me with his arms crossed. "Did I fu- freaking die?!" With one swift nod he answered my question. "Oh my word! So that's what that was... I was trying to figure out why I was watching my life on a TV screen..."

"Say what again?" Tony raised an eye at me and leaned forward.

"Nothing. I'll tell you later. Wow! That must have been terrifying for you guys." I looked to my right to see May sobbing.

"Baby! Don't ever do that to me again! I thought you weren't going to come back! I thought I was going home alone! Peter Benjamin Parker! Promise me you'll be more careful for now on!" I cleared my throat and turned towards her.

"Sure. Yeah, yeah... I'll be carful. So, wait... how long was I dead?" I looked back at Ned. He was crying as well. Before anyone responded, MJ punched me really hard in the shoulder. "I think I deserved that... but could you at least wait until I'm recovered?" I scoffed.

"You might die again and I couldn't punch a dead man." She said bluntly, her voice obviously shaking with fear. "But for real Parker," she walked in front of me and hugged me tightly. "Don't you ever die again. You hear me? If you die, I'll kill you." She let go and took a step back. "You alright?" I half smiled and nodded.

"I feel fine. Thanks for the threat upon my dead self." We both chuckled before I was brought down by a heavyweight. Ned was hugging me from behind, putting his full force on me. "Bro!" I managed to choke out before falling on my back. He was practically laying down on top of me. His arms resting on my chest, his chin resting on my forehead. His stomach laying on the bed and his toes supporting him up so he could stand.

"Peter! I thought you were done for! Your heart stopped! Your everything stopped! How did it feel? Did you meet Jesus? Is God real? Did you go to hell? Or was it like floating above your body, watching everything that was happening? Never mind... it's probably hard to talk about. But seriously, did you see anything? Are you going to be okay? Will you ever-"

"Wow! Ned! Take a deep breath and get off of me!" He raised up, rubbing his arm a little.

"Sorry man..." I sat up, using my forearms for support and leaning my head back, smiling at him.

"It's cool dude." I slightly turned on my side so we could do our secret handshake. Well... it wasn't really a secret since we do it in front of everyone. Once we were finished I flung my body over to lay down. It was a huge mistake. I grunted loudly and let out a choking laughter. For some reason the situation was making me laugh.

"You alright, kid?" Tony said, taking a step forward.

"I feel like I just got hit by a train, Mr. Stark." I wheezed out. I closed my eyes in a sleepy manner but threw them open instantly, afraid I wouldn't wake up again.

"Why don't we let Pete rest? I'll send a nurse in here to watch him." May looked up, hesitating to speak up. I could tell she didn't want to leave me. She didn't want to move. And to be honest, I didn't want her to go either. But I could tell Tony had to speak with me about a more pressing matter. I smiled at May and nodded towards the door.

"I do need to talk with Mr. Stark... then can you come back? I don't want to be alone." Tears filled her eyes again as she stood up. She took three steps to me and leaned over kissing my forehead. "Love you."

"I love you more." She said smiling, waiting for me to finish the Tangled quote.

"I love you most!" She chuckled slightly and pulled her feet towards the door, dragging them with each step. She grabbed the handle and turned back to look at me one last time. "I promise I'm not going anywhere." She swallowed the lump in her throat and swung open the door for MJ and Ned. They both looked back at me many times with empathy and concern. Once the door was closed, Tony covered me up with the blanket, raised my bed so I wasn't totally laying down, and sat down in the chair again. "Now don't start that again..." I said with a small laugh. Tony was not laughing. "What?"

"This isn't funny, Parker." Tony stared directly into my eyes, forcing my anxiety to kick in. "That was waaayyy to close... way, way to close." I looked down, staring into my lap. "Do you want to know how hard it was to pull a sobbing woman out of a room where her nephew, practically her son, lays dead on a bed?! Where doctors are all standing around him trying to get your heart to start again?! Where your two best friends stand panicking and going into shock because they just watched you die. When I was the one who gave you that suit and sent you out there to protect the city? If they didn't get your heart back working... if that would've actually been your final breath... that's on me. I don't need that! I don't need to be planning and paying for my students funeral. Nope! Can't have that." He stood up, shoving the chair back. It slammed on the floor and I jumped a little. Tears were stinging my eyes. I tried to hold them back, but they began to silently fall down my face. "Hey... I didn't mean to knock the chair over. Don't start crying and making me feel bad..." I nodded and wiped my tears away. Tony let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose like I've seen him do so many times before. He picked up the chair and gently sat it up again, returning to his sitting position. "Look... Underoos, I'm... not going to yell at you any more. It's not your fault you almost died. I'm just glad you're okay." I looked over at him and nodded.

"I-I understand Mr-Mr. Stark..." I said through small sniffles. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! That must have been horrible for you. I will never die again. I promise!" Tony looked hard at me for a moment before I saw his muscles relax. He nodded and leaned back in his chair. "Can I ask you something?" He raised an eyebrow at me and gestures for me to continue. "How-how long was I actually dead?" I whispered.

"About a minute. Maybe more, maybe less. Why does it matter?" Peter clamped his mouth shut and stared at his hands. I bit the inside of my cheek, allowing my mouth to fill up with saliva. My mind lost in thought. I was dead. Dead like my parents. Dead like Ben. What if I stayed dead? What if the doctors couldn't get me to come back and May was alone? Would Tony take care of her for me? Would Tony help her pay for my funeral? Would Tony just drop her like a dead fly after I was six feet under? How would May go on without any family left? How would she cope without me? "Pete?" I snapped my head up and swallowed hard. "Hey, kid... don't freak out like that. It's fine."

"No, Mr. Stark! It's not fine! I-I could have been gone forever! I could have been six feet under! How would May pay for everything? I have so many school fees and funerals are so expensive. She would be so alone! Mr. Stark! Promise me something, promise me that if I die before you, please take care of May!" Tony's eyebrows knitted themselves together and he frowned.

"First of all... you're not going to die any more. Second of all, I can't promise you that. Third of all, don't worry about your aunt kid. There's a rule in law force that says take care of you before others. You want to live to see the next day? Take care of your life and be careful. Worry about May after you know for sure you're safe." I sat back, puzzled at what he just said. But I knew he was right. I couldn't expect him to take care of May. Not when he was so busy and engaged. Why would I even ask him that?

"You're right. I'm sorry..." I rolled my head over to look at him. "Thank you. Without you I'd be dead."

"Save that for when I'm finished scolding you, kid." I sank down in my bed, waiting for more harsh words. Tony sighed and stood up. He sat on the end of my bed, staring into my eyes. "Peter. Why didn't you just tell me you were hurt?" I thought about it for a moment.

"Because when you freak out, I freak out and then it's a mess of you and me freaking out..." Tony snorted at my remark. It was pretty silly. "I didn't think I was that hurt."

"Why don't you let a doctor decide that next time." I nodded before looking out the window. There was a little fat sparrow sitting on the window seal. I smiled at it but quickly let my smile fade when I realized Tony Stark was watching me smile at a bird. I glanced back to see Tony smiling at me. "You want a pet bird for your birthday?" I rolled my eyes at him. "Chirp chirp, Parker. That means get some rest in Sparrow." I grabbed my pillow and slammed it in his direction." He stood up and backed up, laughing while doing it. "Okay... okay. I'll stop now. I'll go get your aunt. You're still not off the hook though." He opened the door and Ned practically fell inside.

"I told you not to stand so close!" Mj yelled.

"Well... to bad." Ned huffed back. The three of them walked back inside, May standing next to me, Ned in the chair, and MJ on the edge of my bed. I watched as Tony shoved his hands in his pockets and slowly walked out of the room. I could tell what happened really messed him up. He ran his fingers through his hair and turned to look at me one last time. He caught me staring at him. Just my luck. I thought he would roll his eyes or something, but instead he smiled and winked at me. I smiled back at him as he grabbed the door and began to close it shut.

"Mr. Stark!" He pushed the door opened a little to see me. "Thanks again." He nodded at me and closed the door shut. I turned back to the others. Ned was rambling about something. But I didn't really hear him. All I could think about was how I was alive. I was alive because Tony didn't give up on me. Because May, Ned, and MJ didn't give up on me. And I wasn't going to give up on myself.

"Peter! Are you listening to me?" Ned yelled. I looked over at him.

"No. Repeat what you just said..." He groaned and everyone laughed. Thank God for super healing... "Actually, I would like to sleep."

"Alright..." Ned and MJ stood up, but I reached out to May. I scooted over for her to sit down right next to me. Instead she laid down. I didn't protest as I closed my eyes, May running her fingers through my hair.

Nothing.

That's what I saw. Pitch darkness. A black hole engulfing my vision as I drifted off into a deep sleep.


End file.
